• by Wayne Friedman , 7 hours ago

Sixty-six percent of marketers plan to increase their North American ad spending on connected TV (CTV) and OTT over the next 12 months, according to a recent Nielsen marketing survey -- up from 44% mark a year ago.

This comes amid estimates of an overall weak upfront TV-video ad marketplace in terms of both linear TV and streaming.

A majority of global marketers will be pulling back on traditional media channels, according to the authors of the study.

“As marketers plan to reduce ad spend this year, many will continue to increase investments in digital
channels, but at lower rates." Nielsen's digital research results include OTT/CTV spend.

Strong and growing interest in all things streaming video comes with data showing 42.4% of ad-supported viewing time is now on streaming platforms -- with an estimated 25% increase in ad spend this year to over $20 billion.

Overall, ad spend -- among all channels -- is projected to decline, with over half (54%) of global respondents planning to cut ad spending in 2025. That number is 51% in the U.S.

At the same time, there are a small segment of marketers who will spend more on traditional video media -- and well as digital video media platforms: Nielsen says 19% of those surveyed will increase spending by 50% in OTT/CTV (2% higher than a year ago), with 14% of marketers doing the same for traditional linear TV (inching up 1%).

The report adds: “Comparatively, more marketers are planning substantial increases
(over 50%) to their traditional media budgets than they did last year. In particular, 16% plan to increase their out-of-home budget,”

Nielsen surveyed 1,400 global marketing professionals who completed an online survey between February 25 and March 6 this year, including 350 from North America.